Among the highlights of the early intrasquads at the Orioles’ minor league camp was an inside-the-park home run from Adley Rutschman. But it came at the cost of another of Baltimore’s top prospects.
Outfielder Heston Kjerstad, the Orioles’ second overall pick in the 2020 draft, pulled a hamstring on the play Friday, and executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said Monday the injury could cause him to miss the start of the regular season. It’s an unfortunate circumstance for Kjerstad, who missed the 2021 season recovering from myocarditis — heart inflammation — and has yet to make his professional debut.
“He was looking great,” Elias said.
Before the injury, Kjerstad had played in a handful of simulated games, which he said last week were “the point where I felt like I was fully back.” He possibly would have opened the season at Low-A Delmarva, but after spending most of the offseason in Sarasota facing pitchers and participating in the Orioles’ minicamps, Kjerstad’s 2022 season could begin with even more time in Florida.
“It stinks, but the most important thing is his internal health,” Elias said. “Everything’s going really well there, and on a number of levels, that’s the most important thing. Somebody gets normal athletic injuries after going through something like that, in a weird way, you’re kind of back to normal.
“We’re trying to catch him up with at-bats, but to the degree that this costs him some at-bats the front end of the season and delays his pro debut, it’s gonna be a shame, but we’re just gonna keep pushing through it and fighting through it. He’s as tough as they come, we’ve learned that.”
‘Very, very high percentage’ of roster vaccinated
The Orioles don’t visit Toronto until mid-June, but if a policy from the Canadian government remains in place by then, any players who aren’t fully vaccinated against the coronavirus will not be able to enter the country. Those players will be put on the restricted list and not be paid or receive service time for those games.
New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone called the policy “a concern” for his team, but Elias said he felt the Orioles would be relatively unaffected.
“Fortunately for us, we have a very, very high percentage with this group of vaccinations, so we’re probably less affected than what I read about other teams in our division,” Elias said.
Experimental rule changes coming to minors
Major League Baseball announced Monday a collection of experimental rule changes that will be tested in the minor leagues throughout 2022.
All full-season affiliates will feature a pitch timer and larger bases, while shifts are banned in all full-season levels but Triple-A, with a requirement that four players be on the infield with two on each side of second base. The automated ball-strike system — more commonly called a robo umpire — will be used for all Triple-A West teams, Triple-A Charlotte and the Low-A Southeast.
The goal is to see the effect the rule changes have to potentially introduce them in the major leagues at some point.
Schedule update
All of the Orioles’ home spring training games at Ed Smith Stadium will start at 1:05 p.m. except for those on March 24 and March 26, which will begin at 6:05 p.m.
The scheduled first pitch for Baltimore’s home opener at Camden Yards on April 11 against the Milwaukee Brewers is set for 3:05 p.m.
